My favorite canning recipes

That sounds really good.Plums are finally dwindling down. I haven't processed them, I just washed them, cut out bad spots and froze them, not even blanched!

And peaches aren't ready, so I get some free time, well sort of... blackberries are also ending. But, the elderberries are beginning to show lots of ripe ones!

I love relishes that go good with beans. I am looking forward to making piccallili if I can find the good recipe that I used for it, before the house fire! I think it is in Ball Blue Book, I need to go look.

ya, it's in there. pg. 227 in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.

Just got a gallon of local blackberries and made jam with them. I used the powdered pectin jam recipe that came with the pectin. They were the biggest fattest berries I have ever seen and they were so sweet. I almost felt bad for making them into jam and distorting the flavor with all that sugar. I wasn't sure we were going to have enough for 2 batches cause DH and my mom (I would never ) kept walking by and sneaking them.

On the same day, from the same vendor I also got a bushel of White Nectar peaches. They are in their prime right now. I made peach chutney and jam with them. I need to go get some more and just can halves and maybe make some pickled peaches. They are popular here in SC, not sure about everywhere else. Peach moonshine is pretty common around here too, but I've never made any of that.

Canned 15 quarts of mixed tomato varieties and 1 quart of just yellow toms last night. Thinkin about making some tomato jam with the next bushel.

Whew!

Got those toms in the dehydrator tonight. Picture documented the whole process, will upload them tomorrow for your inspection!

"The conspicuous consumption of limited resources has yet to be accepted widely as a spiritual error, or even bad manners." ~Barbara Kingsolver

My tomatoes are just beginning, I have several, but they are far from picking time.However, my son grew alot of tomatoes, and he is getting overrun. So I got a bucket full last night. I am thinking, before we can eat that many fresh ones they will go bad, so I am getting out the dehydrator and washing it up, guess it goes into action today too!My camera is out on loan so, no photos..

Wow, you have been busy.My cucumbers are just getting to true leaf stage, as is the zuchini.I guess that I had better get some dill planted!

I can't make pickles that are edible, but I can do relishes that work okay, some are as bad as the pickles, so I am not big on pickles or relishes, I just have little success with so many of them. And because of this I only grow a few cucumbers, and not in a hurry to do it.

I need to add that I simply do not like kosher, or bread and butter pickles, I don't care for the flavors or textures. So they may have turned out fine, I just couldn't get anyone to eat them. But, we don't buy them either, since we just don't like them.

I got LOADS of compliments on the jars that I sent out. Many ate them all in one or more days and are begging for more jars. My pickle recipe is a special one.(I shouldn't say my recipe because the old lady next door FINALLY gave it to me, after many years of begging and gifts in the form of veggies, fresh baked bread, and homemade cake squares and countless afternoons of hot tea. I had to bribe it out of her. That and maybe she realized it would die with her if she didn't share. She's in her 90's) It won a blue ribbon at the county and state fair every time she entered it. It really is good. It really is as simple as canning gets. Just cut, stuff, pour, and process, and wait! The type of cuke is important to texture. Pickling cukes work best IMO, though I made these with strait 8's and ashley's. I picked them small and young. They aren't mushy, quite crisp Younger cukes make crisper pickles. Just try it with one jar and discard the left over brine. That way you can try it with out wasting so many cukes.

Bread and butter pickles make me gag...but my DH LOVES them. So I make them for him. I haven't made any sweet pickles yet this year, but I will be making zucchini relish. It is a bit sweet, but I LOVE it in tuna, egg and chicken salad. It's also really good mixed with mayo for a quick tartar sauce on salmon patties and I like a spoonful of the relish stirred into oyster stew in the winter. Now I'm starving

"The conspicuous consumption of limited resources has yet to be accepted widely as a spiritual error, or even bad manners." ~Barbara Kingsolver

Great thread! I'm hitting the pickles hard right now. So far I've picked 55 pounds of cukes from 4 hills. I have 2 buckets of fermented deli dills going and put a gallon jar of lacto fermented dills in today to brine. Did a batch of hot mix, experimental so I'm not too sure about that recipe yet. Put in a batch of lime soaked sweet pickles today, they'll get canned up tomorrow.

The first bucket of deli dills has been soaking 2 weeks now, I just had to have a sample today, awesome! Nice and crisp, tangy with a little spicey heat to them.

I need to make bread and butters yet for DW, I'm not necessarily a big fan of them but she likes them.

Soak (but do not scrub) cucumbers in very cold water for 5 minutes.Use hands to loosen any dirt.

Scald a very clean glass jar with boiling water. Place a grape leaf at the bottom and arrange cucumbers vertically in layers, inserting garlic cloves and dill weed here and there. Do not pack tightly.

Add salt to filtered or spring water and stir and dissolve. Pour brine over cucumbers and add peppercorns.

Cover with leaves and a plate and place in a cool, dark place to ferment.(Long cool fermentation creates the best tasting and best keeping dill pickles. Cover with lead-free ceramic plate and river rock on top. Cover the plate and rock with 2 inches of brine (water and sea salt). The cucumbers need to be completely submerged and weighed down, under plate and stone.

After 1 week, the cucumbers will be semi cured; some prefer them that way. However, it is only after 3-4 weeks that they become fully cured pickles (without pale areas, completely translucent green). Once a week scoop the scum (kahm yeast) that forms on top, and discard (unless you are using a Harsch crock pot that has a clever patented airlock water gutter, that prevents the scum from forming).

Pickles may be placed in smaller jars that are more convenient for storage. Scald 3 or 4 quart jars, pour off and strain pickling juice (discarding garlic and dill weed). Transfer pickles, fill quart jars with strained liquid, cover, and refrigerate.

The juice, or kvas, is never thrown out; it is used as a base for soups, borsch, or even salad dressing.

Naturally fermented pickles will keep easily for a whole year (they acquire more taste as they age). In the middle of winter they will light up your tastebuds and provide delicious fixin's for sandwiches, and keep your digestion happy.

I just looked them up, with the vendor, looks like they could very well be:Armenian CucumberLong pale green, Thin skin no need to peel.

Planting: Plant 3-4 seeds 1" deep every 4'. To have cucumbers sooner start indoors about 4 weeks earlier than you could plant them outdoors, in 3" pots, 3-4 seeds per pot. Transplant a week after last frost and be careful not to disturb roots when transplanting. 60 Day.

That is all it says about it, not sure where I got the burpless, maybe on another cucumber that I have?

My hubby loves cucumbers, just raw, but they don't love him. I have cast iron digestion so none of them bother me.

3/4 cup pickling spice2-3 bunches of fresh dill, I use lots10 pounds pickling cucumbers, trim the blossom end off about an 1/8 inch1 1/2 cups pickling salt2 cups vinegar, I use cider vinegar16 cups water6 garlic cloves, you can never have too much garlic!

In a large clean crock, glass or stainless steel container (I use buckets), place half the pickling spice and one bunch of dill. Add cucumbers, leaving at least 4 inches of space between cucumbers and the rim of the container.

In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine pickling salt, vinegar and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve salt. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Ladle pickling brine over cucumbers to cover. Place remaining dill and remaining pickling spice over the top of the cukes. Add garlic. Place a large clean inverted plate on top of the cucumbers and weigh down with two or three quart jars filled with water and capped. Cover with a clean heavy towel. Let stand in a cool place (70 to 75 degrees) for about 3 weeks, until cucumbers are well flavored with dill and clear throughout. Every day, remove any scum that has formed. During fermentation, gas bubbles will form. When bubbling ceases, fermentation is complete.

Stage 2Prepare jars etc.

Drain pickles, reserving the brine. Set pickles aside. Strain brine into a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat and boil gently for 5 minutes.

Pack pickles into hot jars to within a generous 1/2 inch of top of the jar. Ladle hot pickling liquid into jar to cover the pickles, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar and screw the band down finger tight.

Place jars in canner. Bring to a boil and process for 15 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

Bring the above 7 ingredients to a boil in a very large non-reactive pot. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. During that time drain, rinse, and re-drain the zucchini pieces. After 5 minutes of simmering the brine, add the zucchini and stir to coat. Remove from heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour.

Prepare canner, jars, and lids.

Pack the zucchini into jars tightly, but don't crush them. Bring the syrup back up to boiling and boil for 5 more minutes. Pour the hot syrup into the filled jars to 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust the syrup back up to 1/2 inch headspace. WIPE RIMS and place lids and bands to fingertip tight.

Place in canner with water completely covering the jars. Bring water back to the boil and process for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

These are a sweet but tart pickle and they are spicy. Not like a bread and butter pickle, they are more sour and have a bit of a mustardy flavor. I used zucchini, but you can substitute cucumbers. This is a great way to use up mass quantities of squash and zucchini from the garden. And wear rubber gloves while you are packing your pickles otherwise, you'll have yellow stained fingers

"The conspicuous consumption of limited resources has yet to be accepted widely as a spiritual error, or even bad manners." ~Barbara Kingsolver